1. Field
The following description relates generally to wireless communications, and more particularly to discovery of an Internet Protocol (IP) address corresponding to a function for a node, where the node is associated with a plurality of Internet Protocol addresses, in a wireless communication environment.
2. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication content such as, for example, voice, data, and so on. Typical wireless communication systems can be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, . . . ). Examples of such multiple-access systems can include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, and the like. Additionally, the systems can conform to specifications such as third generation partnership project (3GPP), 3GPP long term evolution (LTE), ultra mobile broadband (UMB), and/or multi-carrier wireless specifications such as evolution data optimized (EV-DO), one or more revisions thereof, etc.
Generally, wireless multiple-access communication systems can simultaneously support communication for multiple mobile devices. Each mobile device can communicate with one or more base stations via transmissions on forward and reverse links. The forward link (or downlink) refers to the communication link from base stations to mobile devices, and the reverse link (or uplink) refers to the communication link from mobile devices to base stations. Further, communications between mobile devices and base stations can be established via single-input single-output (SISO) systems, multiple-input single-output (MISO) systems, multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) systems, and so forth. In addition, mobile devices can communicate with other mobile devices (and/or base stations with other base stations) in peer-to-peer wireless network configurations.
Base stations can further communicate directly or indirectly with various nodes of a core network. For instance, the nodes of the core network can include one or more Packet Data Network Gateways (PDN GWs), one or more Serving Gateways (SGWs), one or more Mobility Management Entities (MMEs), one or more Authentication, Accounting and Authorization/Home Subscriber Servers (AAA/HSSs), and so forth.
In some scenarios, certain nodes (e.g. PDN GW, . . . ) within a core network can use multiple Internet Protocol (IP) addresses. Each of the multiple IP addresses corresponding to a given node (e.g., PDN GW, . . . ) can be used by/for a different function or set of functions supported by the given node. Accordingly, an external entity (e.g., disparate node, component, gateway, MME, . . . ) attempting to communication with the given node may know one IP address pertaining to a particular function, but can be unaware of one or more disparate IP addresses associated with the given node, where the one or more disparate IP addresses can respectively correspond to one or more differing functions.